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| Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad |
Gulf Arab states on Sunday expressed concern at “Iranian meddling” in Bahrain and Kuwait, but Ahmadinejad told reporters in Tehran: “This statement was issued under pressure from America and its allies. It does not bear any legal value.”
The hardline Iranian president also said that Saudi-led forces brought into Bahrain amid protests by the Shia majority in the kingdom should leave.
“It is hideous that troops have been brought in,” Ahmadinejad said. “Take them out. The people have demands so listen to them.”
Foreign ministers of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), in a statement issued after a Sunday meeting in Riyadh, said they were “deeply worried about continuing Iranian meddling.”
Ahmadinejad said the Gulf Arab states must “not fall into the trap of the Americans,” and should boost their ties with Tehran instead.
“We have extended the hand of friendship... do not fall into the American trap, all should be alert,” Ahmadinejad said at a news conference broadcast live on state television.
Pointing the finger at Tehran’s regional arch-foe Israel, he said: “Their (the West’s) intention in interfering in the region is to save the Zionist regime.”
He reiterated: “Rest assured, there will soon be a new Middle East without the Zionist regime, without the US presence and their lackeys.”
The GCC—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates—accused Iran of plotting against the security of its member states and of fanning confessional discord.
Tehran was “violating the sovereignty” of members of the regional grouping, it said on Sunday.
Reacting earlier yesterday, Kazem Jalali, spokesman for the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy commission, said the Gulf states would be better advised to address the grievances of their own peoples as anti-regime protests sweep the Arab world.
“Iran will never interfere in the internal affairs of its neighbours,” he was quoted as saying by the official news agency Irna.
The GCC countries had “better reconsider their own actions” rather than issuing “emotional statements.”
Iran’s foreign ministry on Sunday said the tension between Tehran and its Arab neighbours was the result of a “Western and Zionist conspiracy” aimed at “sowing discord between Islamic countries.”
Acrimony between Iran and the Gulf Arab states was exacerbated by a Kuwait announcement on Thursday that it was expelling an unspecified number of Iranian diplomats for alleged links to a spy ring working for Tehran.
Ahmadinejad denied that Iran had any link to the cell.
“It is clear that (this allegation) has no meaning. What is this spying in Kuwait all about? What does Kuwait have that we spy on it?” Ahmadinejad asked at the news conference.
“If it is (about) its people, well its people are our friends and we are the friend of its people. If it is (about) its government, then we are friends with its government and it is our friend,” he said.
Ahmadinejad also said that Iran was not “interfering” in Syria, as pro-democracy protests sweep the country.
“The government of Syria is our very good friend and it is the resistance’s forefront. So are the people of Syria... the Zionists cannot see the Syrian people and government in peace... the government and the people of Syria can solve their issue through dialogue,” he added.